The Porcelain City

China's Ceramics Capital
Rediscovers Its Lost Art

By

Karen Mazurkewich

Updated Oct. 27, 2006 12:01 a.m. ET

The Product

The ceramic bowls and cups fired in the ovens of Jingdezhen, a municipality in northeastern Jiangxi province long known as the porcelain city, were considered treasures by Chinese emperors as far back as the Song dynasty (960-1279). The town's trade hit a dry spell following the Communist revolution, but in recent years a renaissance in Chinese ceramics has revived interest in pottery from Jingdezhen. Today, the city boasts 2,000 shops selling everything from Ming-dynasty style vases to replicas of Tang dynasty...